Section 3 Administration division; director; deputy director; dispute resolution division; director; deputy director; responsibilities - Massachusetts Statutes

Section 3. (a) There shall be within the department a division of administration, under the supervision and control of a director of administration, and a division of dispute resolution, under the supervision and direction of a senior judge, each of whom shall be appointed by the commissioner. Within the division of administration there shall be a first deputy director of administration. Within the division of dispute resolution there shall be a deputy director of dispute resolution.

(b) The division of administration shall be under the supervision and control of the director of administration, who shall be the executive administrative head of said division. The director shall direct and supervise the activities of all employees within such division. The division of administration shall contain the office of claims administration, the office of education and vocational rehabilitation, the office of insurance, the office of administration and data processing, and the office of safety. The division shall have the following responsibilities under chapter one hundred fifty-two:

(1) receiving and maintaining any reports required to be filed with the department;

(2) providing vocational rehabilitation services required of the department;

(3) preparing an annual statistical report of departmental activities including available information regarding insurer practices, injury and litigation patterns and departmental productivity, and filing such report with the clerks of the house and senate of the general court, the advisory council and the commissioner of insurance and responding to other requests for data;

(4) maintaining a toll-free information number for inquiries regarding workers’ compensation;

(5) preparing and distributing informational materials regarding workers’ compensation and occupational health and safety;

(6) establishing and supervising programs for data collection on workplace injuries and for the education and training of employees and employers in the recognition, avoidance and prevention of unsafe or unhealthful working conditions in employment and advising employees and employers on these issues;

(7) investigating employer violations of mandatory workers’ compensation coverage and enforcing stop work provisions;

(8) investigating written allegations of questionable claims handling techniques or patterns of unreasonably controverting claims by insurers, employers or other entities handling workers’ compensation claims and referring its findings to the commissioner of insurance and the party alleging such techniques or patterns; provided, however, that the department shall provide by regulation guidelines for what constitutes questionable claims handling techniques and patterns of unreasonably controverting claims;

(9) licensing and oversight of self-insurers as set forth in section twenty-five B of chapter one hundred and fifty-two;

(10) maintenance of departmental budgetary, personnel, data processing and other administrative services;

(11) collection of assessments, fines and other payments payable to the Workers’ Compensation Trust Fund and the Workers’ Compensation Special Fund;

(12) analyzing information that shall be required to be sent to the department from the division of employment and training, the department of revenue, the registry of motor vehicles, the department of welfare, the workers’ compensation rating bureau of Massachusetts, the insurance fraud bureau, individual insurers, self-insurers, and self-insurance groups;

(13) other duties as the commissioner may require.